Nightmare
by The Original Horcrux
Summary: Memories have a way of enduring time just as prominently as scars do.


Nightmare

_She was running._

_She didn't know who – or what – she was running from, only that it was vital that she didn't stop. _

_There was nowhere to hide and somehow she knew that her wand was not in her pocket, there was nothing to do but to keep running. _

_But then suddenly, the ground collapsed from under her and she was falling, falling, falling._

"Hermione," a distant voice yelled, "Hermione wake up!"

Hermione's eyes flew open, blinking up at the freckled face above her.

"You okay?" Ron asked, concern lacing his voice. Hermione couldn't say a word, she just lay there breathing heavily as the details from the dream came rushing back to her. She felt Ron's hand on her forehead as he stroked her bushy brown hair back off her sweaty face.

"You were writhing all over the place," Ron said, lying back down next to her, "I had to wake you up… I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Hermione managed, "I'm fine."

"No you're not," Ron said, shifting closer to her in their bed, "If you were okay you wouldn't be crying."

Hermione's hand immediately touched her cheek to find that Ron was right, she had been crying. She wiped the tears away hastily as she untangled the duvet from her legs so that it was lying flat over the both of them again.

"I had the dream again," she said softly. Ron's arms immediately snaked around her, drawing her closer to him.

"What was it about this time?" Ron whispered.

"What do you think?" Hermione said, immediately feeling safer in his arms.

"The war?"

Hermione nodded, "It's not always the war… I sometimes dream that he comes back and targets us… but yes, this time it was the war."

Ron tightened his grip around her and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, "It was just a dream," he whispered.

"I know," Hermione said, "It still petrifies me to this day though, I don't ever want to let Rose and Hugo out of my sight because I'm scared that maybe an ex Death Eater might try to hurt them… that's what I dream about Ron, I dream that he comes back and comes here, we try to fight but he's too strong for us and we die. Oh Ron, what if he does come back!?" Hermione fretted, bursting into tears.

"He's dead," Ron said soothingly, "He's dead and gone and he's not coming back, we saw it with our own eyes, remember?"

"But what if he had another Horcrux out there? Another piece of his soul, he mightn't be dead right now."

"Stop it," Ron said firmly, "You're just going to scare yourself. He is dead, alright, never coming back. We made sure of that."

Hermione pressed her head into Ron's chest and tried to prevent herself from crying. Even now, after the war had been over for fifteen years she still had nightmares about it. Dreams about being back there, about dying, about people she loved being cruelly snatched from her. While she hated them with a passion it was really a reminder of how lucky she was to have them with her right now. The brutal reality that Ron or Harry might've died that day didn't bear thinking about.

She dreamed about lost friends and relived situations that she had desperately tried to eliminate from her mind with no result.

Each time she shut her eyes she could see war and destruction happening behind her eyelids. She could still feel the pain of every cut and scrape that she had suffered; she could smell the stench of dead bodies and sense the darkness threatening to take over her.

She felt Ron trace over the scar on her left forearm. The puckered skin was a constant reminder of what the two of them had been through at Malfoy Manor, when Bellatrix had tortured her. Hermione didn't know how she felt about having it there permanently. Ron had told her that she should be proud of it, and show it off like a battle scar, which was exactly what it was. Hermione felt differently, she didn't care whether people saw it or not, but she did her best to cover it up with spells, although they eventually faded away and it was visible again. She did her best to ignore it but sometimes it was too prominent.

"Hey," Ron said as she looked up from his chest, "We'll be fine; I'll make sure of it."

Hermione smiled up at him.

"Now let's get some sleep, Hugo will be up in a few hours' time," Ron said, kissing Hermione's nose and pulling the blankets up to his chin.

"I love you," Hermione whispered as she lay her head on his shoulder.

"I love you too," he whispered back, "Now go to sleep… I promise we'll be safe and sound."

Hermione had never trusted anyone more than she trusted Ron and she knew that if she closed her eyes that she would be alright because she felt safer knowing that Ron would always protect her no matter what happened and having him so close to her made her feel as though no harm would ever befall them again… However, there was still that nagging doubt in the back of her mind that told her that as soon as she closed her eyes the next night, the nightmares would be back to haunt her.

* * *

**AN: Ahh it's been forever since I wrote something Romione! I miss writing for them and this has just made me realise how much I love them! **

**this is for:**

**The 2012 Hogwarts Games – Men's Tennis: Round 2**

**The Ron/Hermione Competition**

**The Family Bootcamp Challenge – Prompt #48: Concern**

**The 100 Different Pairings Competition – Prompt #6: Nightmare**

**I'd love it if you could leave a review :)**

**Potter On**

**~The Original Horcrux~**


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